Vote For Su Chia Chuan 蘇嘉全... He Rides A Salsa La Cruz CX Bike

Of course I am only joking for the reasoning, but I was pleased to see the DPP candidate pictured astride a Salsa La Cruz cyclocross bike. The bike appears to be a 2009 model of the disc only, steel, multi-surface machine, produced for Salsa Cycles by one of Taiwan's top steel frame makers.

I has some friends test one out a while back (and this may very well be the same one) and it was a great bike for a variety of riding in Taiwan.

Now, I don't know if that is really the candidate or a photoshopped head, but for a Taiwan-centered candidate, what better bike than a great Taiwan Bike.

The Bicycle and the Battle of Identity Politics.

She's Got Good Taste

I just thought I would post this recent picture of DPP Chairwoman, Tsai Ying-wen trying on a bike helmet. Tsai is currently running for the Mayorship of New Taipei City in November's municipal elections. In several posts I have referred to the bicycle as a seme for the Taiwanese identity and Taiwanese national pride, therefore becoming an object of political capital coveted by political actors of various colors. Whoever owns the image of the bike owns what it represents to the electorate.

Update:

Battle of the Bikes

Yesterday the DPP New Taipei City candidate, Tsai Ying-wen, led a bike centered campaign event to draw out supporters. Meanwhile, the KMT candidate led his own event flanked by bicycles. (Liberty Times and China Times articles.) In the New Taipei City elections the bike often deployed as a symbol of a future of sustainability.